Hard Stuff: Psyko Audio Labs Carbon review

This headset is absolutely massive. I'm talking Goliath-massive. After just two hours of using it, my neck ached as if I was wearing a military-grade Kevlar helmet. This is because the Psyko Carbon is constructed off a hard-molded, reinforced plastic frame (and consequently, it can't be folded up to save space). It's got some fabulous extras though, including a cloth-braided cable that doesn't get tangled on your desk, an external mix-amp with a bass and volume dial, and LED lights on the mix-amp that show which of the headset's speakers are currently being used. You can even pop open the sides of the ear cups via their hinged plastic covers to hear what's going on in the real world (but closing them is like hearing a door slam inside your skull). While the mic doesn't sound incredible, it's detachable, which is nice.

However, the Carbon sounds better than any headset I've ever tested. The audio is routed down from the top of the headband, and the speakers are positioned at different angles and locations inside the ear cups (as opposed to traditional headset speakers that all face your ears). The design is perfect. Echoes and thunderstorms surround you from all directions, shouts and groans from bad guys move around your head as you juke and weave through cover, while the sounds of your own gunshots and melee attacks are planted firmly in the center. The Carbon costs a fortune, but if you've got the money—and a strong neck—it's worth every nickel.